Johnson's drug stance worries border officials

Published: Tuesday, October 12, 1999

LAS CRUCES, N.M. {AP} Authorities along New Mexico's southern border are worried about what Gov. Gary Johnson is saying that the drug war has been a failure and that a solution lies in legalizing drugs.

For those who are attempting to stem the flow of illegal drugs into the United States, the governor's call to make certain drugs legal is a risk not worth taking.

"If we give up the effort and remove the thin blue line, we'd be totally overrun by this scourge of traffickers who would have easy access to the U.S. with tons and tons of poison for our citizens," said James Jennings, the director of the New Mexico High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.

"We are concerned about the comments of the governor I consider them to be careless, without proper thought and background, and certainly not in the best interests of our children," Jennings said.

Johnson says he believes drug abuse would be reduced under legalization because the distribution of drugs would be government regulated and taxed, and more resources would be available for education and treatment.

Johnson has argued that federal, state and local governments, which spend $50 billion a year on drug enforcement, would be able to divert much of those funds to education and treatment programs if drugs were legalized.

Federal agents have made strides in capturing illegal drugs crossing the border. They seized nearly 860 tons of illegal drugs along the Southwest border in 1998, a 26 percent increase over 1997.

In fiscal year 1999, which ended Sept. 30, authorities seized drugs worth an estimated $257.4 million, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration's office in El Paso.

Jose Frietze, executive director of the Las Cruces-based Families and Youth Inc., a private agency that administers drug treatment programs for teen-agers, is concerned about the impact of legalization on youth.

Even if drug sales were prohibited to teens under a system of legalization, he said, the risk of teens gaining access to drugs would increase.

Drug enforcement agents along the border say Johnson is undermining efforts to deter drug use by suggesting legalization.